Improvement in bkaiding machines



@glatten ltats stwt' @fitta WILLIAM TUNSTIIJL, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY.

Letters Patent IVO. 65,309, ZatecZ llfay 28, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN BRAIDI-NG MACHINES.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM TUNSTILL, of Paterson, in the countyl of Passaic, and State of New Jersey, have invented, made, and applied to use, a certain new and useful Improvement in Braiding Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full7 clear, and exact description of the said invention, reference being had to the annexed drawing, making part of this specication, wherein- Figure 1 is an elevation showing a braiding machine with only three spools or bobbins, and illustratingI my improvement; and

Figure 2 is a plan, below the line x x, one of the bobbins and tsvcase being shown in section.

Similar marks of reference denote the same parts.

In braiding machines it is usual to have the bobbin or spool-carriers travel through an 8-shaped slot, or through. a series of such slots, the thread passingoif the spool beneath or through a weight that takes up the slack thread when the carrier is nearest to the point where .the braiding takes place. This causes considerable strain and wear on the threads and strands, nso that in practice it is found that the braiding machines cannot be used with threads iiner than a certain size. Besides this, the tension is rendered irregular in consequence of the thread passing oii', sometimes at right angles to the spool and at others above or below that point, as the thread unwinds from or towards the ends of the spool.

The nature of my said invention consists in an automatic let-olil and weighted pulley, combined with a bobbin or cap, in which the thread is taken od at or near the line of the axis, thereby enabling me to occupy much less room or horizontal space than has heretofore been required for effecting the movements of the bobbins in braiding, and the friction and wear on the thread are entirely avoided by the pulley, as that turns with the thread, and the tension is rendered uniform at all times, so that there is very little liability for the thread to break. And I enclosev the bobbiu or cop in a case so that the thread is kept from the dust and dirt, and the machine may be allowed to stand over night, or for a number of days, without the exterior layer of thread becoming soiled, as heretofore usual, particularly with silk and other delicate threads.

I make use of a friction mechanism between the driving-pulley and the main shaft of the machine, in ccnnection with the stopping and starting lever, so that the starting will be gradual and not liable to break the threads as with the positive gearing heretofore employed.

In the drawing a represents the slotted plate, 6 the drivers, with notches in their edges taking the pins c on the under sides of the bobbin-carriers CZ, and e e are the driving-wheels, all as usual and I here remark-that the number of bobbins may be increased indefinitely, and the shape of the slot'in the plate a may be varied as desired. f is a bevelled friction-pulley below the wheel g, and t is a similar friction-pulley contiguous to and rotated by the driving-pulley 7c. The surfaces of either or both these friction-wheels,f and L, are covered with leather so as to produce the requisite friction when pressed into contact. The pulleyfis set upona feather on shaftvZ, or otherwise connected thereto, so that a slight movement may be given thereto for producing or relieving the friction with h, and a lever Zl is provided to act upon said pulleyf through the washer of India rubber z' and a metal washer nextthe pulley f, so that the yielding of said rubber washer z'shall allow for any inequalities in the 'friction surfaces of f and z.. The lever Z is raisedfor starting the machine and dropped for stopping it, the starting being gradual in consequence of the friction. The pulley c has a dat belt passing to the main drivingshaft, asin Letters Patent granted to me August 19, 1862. The lever Z has at its end a latch-bar, m, that passes up and takes over the lever m, which is acted upon by the base of the weighted pulleys hereafter described. In case said pulley falls bythe breaking of a thread, and ucla-telling the lever m1 from the bar m, allows the lever l' and pulleyf to drop out ofcontact with Zt. The shaft Z is continued up and gives motion to any desired character of takc-up for the braided fabric. I have shown the worm n, wheel and shaft n', and barrel n2, around which the braided material passes once or twice and thence goes to the winding-reel n3 driven by a friction-belt to a pulley,'1r, on the shaft nl. o is the eye through which the braided fabric passes. Upon each bobbin-carrier I affix a ease, p, of sheet metal, having on one side a swinging door or flap, through which the bobbin or cop p is entered. The thread passes oi` from said bobbin or cop around a grooved ratchet-wheel, q, held by apawl, 2, and its spring 3. The casey@ is to be of a size and shape adapted to the cop. r2 is the pulley, with the weight 1' set to slide `fertically on suitable guide-rods rl, which also aid in sustaining upon their upper ends the frame that supports the ratchet-wheel g and its pawl. The thread passes from q down to and below the grooved pulley r2, and thence upward and out through the eye 4 above. The weight r of' the pulley r2 also forms its support and guide, and may be increased by the addition of weights, eaeh made with a hole in its centre and placed over a stud, 5, on the base of r. Aiinger, 6, projects upward from the slide-weightr, and when the tension of the thread lifts A the Weight 1' sufficiently, said inger 6 comes into contact with the pawl 2, and lifting the same allows the grooved ratchet-wheel gto turn by the action of the thread wound around it, and thereby causing the weight to descend as the thread is given 01T. The paw] 2 again entering the ratchet q holds the thread asbefore, until'the braiding operation, again drawing o'l` the thread, raises the pulley r2 and finger 6 into contact with the ratchet g. It will be seen that this Weight and leteofmight be used with a cop or bobbin and without the case, and in consequence of the pulley r2 preventing friction and wear on the thread, a much greater weight and tension may be employed without rish of breaking the thread. '.lhe pulley r2, weight r, grooved ratchet g, and pawl 2may be employed as a warp-regulator in a loom, to keep a deinite strain upon one or more warps passed around said ratchet-wheel Q and beneath the pulley rzfand let the same oli` from time to time-as the weaving or braiding progresses. The thread in my machine being drawn oi` from the end of the cop, uncoils without friction andwith regularity, the same as in an ordinary shuttle, and there is no liability to break or become wedged in between the other threads as there is in the usual braiding machines where the thread is drawn oif from the side of the spool against the friction and stop-motion applied to prevent the spool'turning.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, iis-- 1. The case p fitted upon the carrier d in a braiding machine, and containing'the bobbin or cop from which the thread passes off, upon the line, or nearly so, of the axis of said bobbin or cop, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. i

2. I claim the ratchet-pulley g over which the thread passes, pawl 2, and f inger 6, in combination with the Weight r, substantially as and forthe purposes specified.

3. I claim the grooved ratchet-wheel g over which the thread passes, pawl 2 and weight r, in combination with the cop and bobbin p', substantially as and for the purposes specified.

4. I claim friction-Wheels applied in substantially the manner specified between the driving-pulley 7c and the main shaft Z of a braiding machine in combination with the stopping and start-ing mechanism, so that the machine may commence tomove gradually instead of suddenly, as set forth.

In witnesss whereof I have hereunto set my signature this 27th day of August, A. D. 1866.

WILLIAM TUN STILL.

Witnesses:

LEMUEL W. SERRELL, GEO. D. WALKER. 

